Scam: 'If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is'

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FLORENCE, Ore. -- It's a scam quite a few people in Florence are experiencing.

They get a check in the mail claiming they've won a large amount of money.

Barbara Rardin was one of those people. "I opened it and read it, and at first I got excited because I thought, boy this is a lot of money."

Barbara even broke the good news to her furry friend. "I told my cat Tootsie, I'm getting you a steak dinner tonight."

The check comes in your name, complete with a letter congratulating you on your prize.

The catch? A processing fee of almost $4,000.

That wasn't enough to convince Barbara, so she made a phone call. "I said, how do I know this isn't a scam? She hung up on me."

Siuslaw Bank deals with a lot of fraudulent checks, and has some advice. "Contact your bank, because it's probably a scam," said Sherry Dutcher, the bank operations supervisor. "Do not go to Western Union and wire money."

Officials with the bank say if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.